“Hold Boeing Accountable”: Boeing Stock (NYSE:BA) Slips on New FAA Candidate Remarks

We all know that aerospace stock Boeing (BA) has been taking it on the chin lately from the government, and with good reason. Particularly as parts of Boeing’s planes tend to land before the passengers do in at least some cases. But the new candidate to head the Federal Aviation Administration has his eye on Boeing, and is not inclined to be forgiving. That sent Boeing stock down modestly in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.

While Boeing has been taking a lot of orders, and filling them, to the general respect of airlines, the new nominee to head the FAA, Bryan Bedford, is not planning to be especially kind. Bedford specifically noted that he means to hold “…Boeing accountable to deliver a high-quality product.” Bedford also has a particular interest in pulling data like defect rates to see if Boeing’s quality and supply chain issues have been successfully handled.

This may ultimately prove moot, though, as reports from Boeing’s customers have been increasingly pleased with the level of quality seen thus far. And with Boeing’s production lines now slamming against the FAA-imposed production cap, it seems the company can handle the levels at which it is already producing. Bedford’s plans, therefore, may be largely meaningless going in the door.

No More Exemption

Interestingly, Boeing also pulled plans to seek an exemption for the Stall Management Yaw Damper (SMYD) system on the 737 Max 7, reports noted. Previously, Boeing sought an exemption to have the system no longer subject to regulations concerning the ability to resist lightning strikes. But Boeing discovered that the SMYD will actually meet federal requirements as-is, and therefore, an exemption will no longer be required.

That right there might be the most telling point of all; Boeing went from needing an exemption to get its planes up and running to not needing one. That suggests that Boeing’s planes are indeed improving in quality, and delivering the kind of results that any of us would want to see in a plane in which we are about to risk our lives flying.

Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 16 Buys, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 18.1% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $220.95 per share implies 3.79% upside potential.

See more BA analyst ratings

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